Soda Can Density

Cans of regular soda will sink in water; cans of diet soda will float in water. This density difference has been attributed to sugar concentration in the sodas. Regular soda is more dense because it contains sugar; diet soda is less dense because it contains little or no sugar. Plastic bottles of regular soda and diet soda all float (presumably because of the gas at the top of the bottles), but bottles of diet soda float higher in the water than bottles of regular soda. Special thanks to Karen Campbell for assistance with the photography.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Cans of regular Coke®, Diet Coke®, Diet Dr. Pepper®, and Dr. Pepper®. Blue food coloring has been added to the water to make it more visible.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Can of Diet Coke®, bottle of Diet Coke®, bottle of regular Coke®, and can of regular Coke®.

More information:

Herrick, Richard S.; Nestor, Lisa P.; Benedetto, David A. Using Data Pooling to measure the density of sodas: An introductory Discovery Experiment J. Chem Educ. 1999 76 1411.

Henderson, Susan K.; Fenn, Carol A.; Domijan, John D. Determination of Sugar Content in Commercial Beverages by Density: A Novel Experiment for General Chemistry Courses J. Chem Educ. 1998 75 1122.